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And so while Superintendent Chi and PC Norman Anthony are out on bail, the allegations against them have sullied the reputation of the entire police department.  Other officers - the majority of them completely innocent - are now painted with the very same brush of suspect behavior.  Today, acting Commissioner Chester Williams told us that they have put a new, no-nonsense OC in Orange Walk Town as a means of confidence building:..

Reporter
"As a ranking officer, what are your thoughts on the fact that there are other members of the department who have been implicated in this particular drug bust and the fact that they're not only on interdiction but their reputations have been stained as police officers?"

DCP Chester Williams - Commander of Operations
"Well, there will always be situations where police officers will be accused of wrong doing but it is a matter for us as a department that when these information manifest themselves, that we do the relevant investigation with a view to either exculpate the officer or to gather evidence that will be sufficient to lay charges or disciplinary actions against the officers. As it relates to this recent incident, we have an ongoing investigation that is being led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Mr. Robert Mariano and Senior Superintendent Sandra Bodden and they have been tasked to probe as much as they can into this allegation with a view to see if indeed other officers are involved and if evidence against them can be obtained."

Reporter
"Orange Walk District remains for lack of a better word a hot bed for the landing of illegal aircrafts and drug activity. As the commander of operations, have you ranked up any form of police presence of patrols in the general vicinity of either Tres Leguas or the Blue Creek community?"

DCP Chester Williams
"Yes we do have increase of police presence in the Orange Walk District. Every week I would sanction operations in those areas with a view to deter criminal activities including the landing of planes and I am pleased to announce that we have a new officer commanding in Orange Walk in the person of Juanito Cocom. You all know him from Ladyville, he is a outstanding officer and we believe that with him at the helm, his level of expertise and the professionalism that he brings to the table will help us to be able to restore some degree of public trust and confidence in the work of the police in Orange Walk Town."

Williams is acting Commissioner again this week while Commissioner Whylie travels.  Later on he’ll tell us how police will make the 21st safe for you.